Democracy as an experience of political organization is today undergoing multiple external attacks, and is the object of many internal criticisms. In this regard, one can imagine a City besieged by centrifugal forces, not least of which is the rise of the phenomenon of disinformation. There are many cities, like Kyiv or Dubrovnik, which are or have in the past been the target of disinformation campaigns that preceded and accompanied the assault of which they were the victims. Therefore, it seems necessary to review who are the actors and the vectors of disinformation today, to then examine who are the main targets and victims. Ultimately, this communication, in addition to the description of the phenomenon itself, also aims to review the responses that are provided by public actors to combat this scourge threatening the proper functioning of democratic deliberation.

 Demokracija, kao iskustvo političke organizacije, danas je suočena s brojnim vanjskim napadima i predmet je mnogih unutarnjih kritika. U tom kontekstu možemo zamisliti sliku grada opkoljenog centrifugalnim silama, pri čemu jedna od njih nije zanemariva – porast fenomena dezinformacija. Brojni gradovi, poput Kijeva ili Dubrovnika, bili su ili su još uvijek meta kampanja dezinformacija koje su prethodile i pratile napade čije su žrtve postali. Stoga se čini nužnim preispitati tko su današnji akteri i vektori dezinformacija, a zatim analizirati tko su njihove glavne mete i žrtve. Konačno, ovaj rad, osim opisa samog fenomena, ima cilj razmotriti i odgovore javnih aktera na ovu pošast koja ugrožava pravilno funkcioniranje demokratske deliberacije.

Young adult citizens (18-30 years) tend to turn away from traditional news media and migrate to media where emotions occupy a more central place and where journalistic standards are not self-evident, thus challenging public discourse and the notion of quality associated with established news media (Schwaiger et al., 2022; Backholm et al., 2021; Baek et al., 2019; Berthelsen & Hameleers, 2021). In this paper, we test possibilities of investigating how young adult citizens construe (perceive, comprehend and interpret) and experience quality of news content in a high choice, hybrid media landscape (Chadwick et al., 2015), characterized by multimodal and intermedial possibilities offered in social media (Holt & Schirrmacher, 2021). In particular, we explore if there is a possible link between emotional reactions to news items, and subsequent quality rating. In media and journalism research, the importance of emotions evoked by news-content has been pointed out in recent years (Wahl-Jørgensen, 2020). Researchers have studied emotional aspects of different types of content (e. g. Uribe & Gunter, 2007), polarization (e. g. Marozzo & Bessi, 2017), and affective responses to political messages (Bakker et al., 2021). Lacking is, however, in depth analysis of how emotional reactions to news might interact with quality assessments. Since young citizens differ from older generations in media use (Boczkowski et al., 2018), it is especially important to understand the notion of quality from the perspective of this age group. Here, biometric data offer promising possibilities, since it allows for measuring emotional response as well as eye-movments during exposure to news. At the same time, methodology for journalism scholars is still at a developmental stage. Therefore, in this paper we present the results from a small-sample pilot study, using GSR and eye-tracking in combination with semi-structured interviews with young citizens about quality in news. Our findings are discussed in relation to the usability of this methodological approach and suggestions for further research are presented.

2015 became a dramatic year for both Europe and Sweden. The war that staggered in Syria and the in the Middle East caused people to flee in unimaginable amounts. For Sweden, which traditionally has a generous asylum policy, and in front of the refugee stream, was ready to increase its refugee quota, this year would change both the political climate and the media landscape. In a short period of time, opinion swung from an extreme to another, and the political rhetoric changed. In this presentation, on the one hand, we want to describe what actually happened; who were the players in the media arena, what actual events led Sweden to go from a relatively 

strong consensus on an open reception of refugees to closed borders? We also want to explore the role of alternative media (anti-system media) in this spell and how traditional media where obliged to relate to the proactivity and the impact of alternative media.

This study provides guidance on possible entry points for support to a qualitative and sustainable media sector in support of democratic governance on a regional level in Sub Saharan Africa. 

The report is the result of an extensive consultative process with media and civil society representatives in Southern, Eastern, Central and Western Sub-Saharan Africa. Three roundtable meetings were held during February 2019 with media experts and media representatives from each of the sub-regions. 

The report is written from a media perspective and focuses on regional media initiatives and challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. Seven focus areas that are instrumental for the future of quality journalism have been investigated. 

In the second part of the study, focus is set on what donors should consider when reviewing how regional media initiatives and processes can contribute to democracy and accountability. This second part can be seen as connecting local and national media stakeholders with regional initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as to the ongoing global dialogue on the need for increased media development, manifested at the international meeting organised by CIMA and Sida in Paris in March 2019.

This book is not a litany of the many terrorist attacks that have occurred over the last five years, nor is it a value judgement on how the media have reported on these events. Its ambition is to question the issues at stake in emerging journalistic practices and to raise a number of subsequent ethical questions. In 2017 Linnaeus University took the initiative to organize an international conference focusing on journalism in a world of terrorism – terrorism in the world of journalism. Our aim was to understand what it means in 2018 to report on terrorism in different national contexts. The conference (held 9-10 May, Kalmar) offered a unique opportunity for academics and journalists to come together in order to share experiences, discuss and reflect on the numerous dilemmas journalism in the world of terrorism has to cope with. Accordingly, this book depicts the wide diversity of approaches as well as reports the richness of the dialogue between practitioners and researchers – which constitutes the overall originality of this joint venture project between the Department of Media and Journalism and the Media Institute Fojo. Indeed, conflicts and terrorism nowadays constitute a field of study particularly conducive to assessing the role of media in contemporary democratic societies. The same also applies for societies engaged in transition and democratic consolidation processes, which are simultaneously facing the threat of terrorism (as is, for example, the case of Tunisia, Niger, Algeria and Morocco – countries from which some of the participants came). Some key issues were particularly under scrutiny: How does terrorism affect the media and their coverage of these events? Are the media an integral part of the strategy of terror deployed by the main actors (lately almost exclusively from Islamist extremist groups)? To answer these crucial questions, academics and professionals certainly had to examine all facets of the existing links and interrelations between the terrorist phenomenon and the media. A common experience articulated by researchers and journalists alike is that conflicting crises, as well as terrorist attacks, will necessarily affect reporting because of their sensational manifestations – it is impossible to not tell the story even if it might add to the pain of victim countries.

 2015 became a dramatic year for both Europe and Sweden. The war that staggered in Syria and the in the Middle East caused people to flee in unimaginable amounts. For Sweden, which traditionally has a generous asylum policy, and in front of the refugee stream, was ready to increase its refugee quota, this year would change both the political climate and the media landscape. In a short period of time, opinion swung from an extreme to another, and the political rhetoric changed. In this presentation, on the one hand, we want to describe what actually happened; who were the players in the media arena, what actual events led Sweden to go from a relatively strong consensus on an open reception of refugees to closed borders? We also want to explore the role of alternative media (anti-system media) in this spell and how traditional media where obliged to relate to the proactivity and the impact of alternative media.

This special issue of the Journal of Alternative and Community Media presents five articles that examine right-wing alternative media from different countries and contexts: Brazil, the United States, Germany and Finland. They focus on different aspects of a phenomenon that has come to the forefront of public debate in recent years, due to the many apparently successful alternative media enterprises that can be characterised as conservative, libertarian, populist or far to extreme right wing on a political scale. While there has been much (and often heated) public debate about this, researchers tend to lag behind when it comes to new trends, and a transient and rapidly changing media landscape. The articles in this special issue are therefore especially valuable, since they all provide empirically grounded perspectives on specific cases that illustrate different parts of a large puzzle that is in much need of illumination. This special issue is of use not just to communication research, but also to the public debate on disinformation on the internet.